Program generators are known for aiding a user to create a software program for a particular application. One known program generator allows a user to create a program for a data collection system. More particularly, this generator allows the user to generate different programs that are specific to various data collection applications. This program generator is cumbersome to use, however. It combines editing with compiling so that each line of a program preceding a given line to be edited must be compiled before the given line can be edited. Further, this program generator does not have the capability of generating a program that controls a selective printing operation of a labeler as well as a data collection operation.